Trump’s Women Supporters Claim That Only He Can Protect Them

Women who support President Trump envision him as a savior of sorts, who will protect them from immigrants and liberals.

As President Donald Trump traverses the country campaigning for Republican candidates, he has spent much time railing against the migrant caravan traveling north toward the U.S. and stoking fears over undocumented immigrants — particularly among women.

At rally after rally, he has said that women “want security,” warning of encroaching immigrants, rising crime and a looming economic downturn if Democrats gain power.
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“Border security is very much a woman’s issue,” Mr. Trump said on Saturday afternoon in Belgrade, Mont. “Women want security. They don’t want that caravan.”
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Some of Mr. Trump’s female backers initially supported him only reluctantly or do so now in spite of reservations about his bawdy language and erratic behavior. But they shared in his victory after the bitter and partisan battle over the confirmation of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. And many believe the president when he reminds them during each of his hourlong pep rallies that the world they know — largely Christian, conservative and white — is at stake on Tuesday.

Several women The Times spoke with indicated they believe Trump is the man to keep them safe, especially as the migrant caravan approaches.

That is certainly the case for Kristin Sellers, 48, of Pace, Fla., who said she was “anxious as hell” about the migrants, and trusted Mr. Trump to keep them out.

“It doesn’t mean I agree with everything that comes out of his mouth, because like his wife, I’d like to take his phone from him, but I just felt that we needed someone with a business sense to get our country back on track, and that’s what Trump has done,” Ms. Sellers said as she waited for Mr. Trump in an airplane hangar in Pensacola, Fla., on Saturday.

Another woman The Times spoke with, at a rally in Montana, said she appreciates Trump’s truth-telling:

Rachell Marks, 59, who works in car sales in Billings, Mont., said she would continue to support Mr. Trump because she believed he told the truth.

“I have an infatuation and a love for this man that’s not normal,” Ms. Marks said. “I give the highest respect when people are telling the truth and giving their political power. If anything, I have a deeper respect now.”

Of Mr. Trump’s previous visit to Montana, when in the wake of a Saudi journalist’s killing he praised a congressman for body-slamming a reporter, Ms. Marks said with a shrug: “People tend to get on people’s nerves.”